CCCC VMT students score high on national exam

SANFORD The Veterinary Medical Technology 2008 graduates of Central Carolina Community College achieved a 97-percent passing rate on the national Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE).

Approximately 3,500 VMT graduates from across the United States and Canada took the examination. Their average pass rate was 64 percent. Passing is a requirement for obtaining VMT licenses.

This high passing rate is fairly consistent for our graduates over the years, said Dr. Paul Porterfield, Central Carolinas VMT Department chairman. In addition, our graduates consistently score much higher in the major content areas of this examination: Pharmacy and Pharmacology; Surgical Preparation and Assisting; Dentistry; Laboratory Procedures; Animal Care and Nursing; Diagnostic Imaging; and Anesthesia and Analgesia.

For these areas, the total average score for Central Carolina C.C.s graduates was 549 out of 600 total points. For all candidates who took the exam, the average score was 483.

By the time the colleges VMT students earn their two-year degree, they are trained to do everything needed in a veterinary practice, except diagnose, prescribe, perform surgery, or create an irreversible change to an animal, which state regulations do not allow them to do.

According to Porterfield, there is a shortage of VMTs, both in the state and nationwide. Veterinary practices and hospitals always show up at the colleges career fairs, hoping to attract graduating VMTs.

Central Carolina has been offering VMT training since 1964, when it was the first community college in North Carolina to do so. The program is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.